Gold futures declined Friday, taking a pause in a week set to bring more than 3% in gains.
Silver futures, which spiked in the previous session, were also falling victim of profit-taking after steep gains.
Gold for April delivery declined $9.30, or 0.5%, to $1,777.30 U.S. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold on Thursday settled at its highest level since Nov. 11, buoyed by a lower U.S. dollar and fears of inflation stoked by rising oil and retail gasoline prices.
Gold has gained nearly $53 U.S. per ounce, or 3.1%, on the week so far.
With no catalysts to extend gains, gold took a breather and was facing "a lot of resistance in front of $1,800 (U.S.)" an ounce, said one expert.
Gold last settled above $1,800 U.S. in September, on its way down from a record $1,891.90 U.S. in August. The Sept. 21 settlement was $1,808.10 U.S.
Macroeconomic data in the U.S. "remain fairly positive, which continues to limit losses in the dollar and (investors) could still see a small-scale dollar rebound. For sustained gains in gold from here we would need a much weaker dollar relative to the euro for a sustained period, which is unlikely for now," analysts at VTB Capital wrote in a note to clients.
Gains on a renewed bout of risk aversion could still be possible, but it would require "a credit event" in the euro-zone, which the analysts ruled out in the near term.
The dollar index, which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, traded at 78.331 from 78.677 in late North American trading on Thursday.
March silver lost 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $35.42 U.S. an ounce. Weekly gains for silver hovered around 4%.
The stronger tone for silver and gold came as the metals broke above key technical indictors or approached levels of price resistance.
Most metals tracked gold and silver lower, with copper bucking the trend to advance. Copper for March delivery added seven cents, or 1.9%, to $3.88 U.S. per pound.
Copper stockpiles registered on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have fallen for the first time since early December, analysts at Commerzbank said.
Platinum and palladium declined, with April platinum down $1.50, or 0.1%, to $1,721.50 U.S. an ounce. March palladium was off $2.45, or 0.3%, to $715.95 U.S. an ounce. Both metals pared losses as the session wore on.
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